[Isolde]
I didn’t sleep.
How could I? Every time I closed my eyes, I felt the burn on my shoulder where his teeth had sunk in. Where he’d marked me. Without asking. Without warning. Without my goddamn consent!
I rolled over in bed for what felt like the hundredth time, the thin mattress creaking underneath me. The other maids were asleep, their breathing soft even in the darkness. For that, I envied them.
My fingers kept drifting to the mark, pressing against it through my nightgown. It didn’t hurt as badly anymore, but the mark itself hadn’t vanished.
‘He marked me.’
The words had been circling my head all night. I’d tried to be rational about it. Tried to tell myself I’d confront him tomorrow, calmly and maturely. We’d have a civil conversation about boundaries and consent, but—
‘
